Q: I’ve been hearing about UL 325 for years. Since so much of our business involves installing garage door and gate openers, I’d like to read the standard for myself. How can I purchase a copy for my dealership?

This 124-page document is written primarily for operator manufacturers to use in labeling their products. Consequently, it is written in technical language.

It can be quite expensive. A hard copy can cost more than $900. You can also purchase a subscription service that automatically sends you updates to the standard. That can cost another $400 or much more.

Much of the entire document does not address garage door and gate openers. The full 325 standard applies to door, drapery, gate, louver, and window operator systems. You might hesitate to pay such a high price when you have no use for a good portion of the book.

This is a living document. The language of the standard changes every few years. The standard you buy today may have some outdated language in a couple of years. If you don’t buy regular updates, you won’t know which sections have changed.

If you have questions about the current UL requirements for specific installations, you can contact your operator supplier. Your manufacturer may be willing to share a paragraph or two of key UL 325 provisions that interest you.

At www.dasma.com, you can freely download several helpful DASMA Technical Data Sheets that refer to UL 325 requirements. Go to the Web site, look under the “Publications” tab, then click on “Tech Data Sheets” and scan the links found under Operator & Electronics. All the links numbered in the 300s apply to operators and electronics.